Tips from professional musicians on life on the road, on stage, and in the studio

Life on the Road - Part 3 - by Ryan Roberts

Welcome back to this weeks Musicians Guide!  Last week I touched on viable transportation solutions and cost efficient fueling options for all you potential and current road warriors.  This week I'm going to give you fellows some possible alternatives for fueling the most important machine of all, your body.  While on the road, it's tremendously easy to fall into bad habits (ie. fast food, alcohol, etc.). Remember that your body is following the same rules as it does when you're hanging out in one location, and eating unhealthy food will make you feel (and eventually look) haggard. Try to only stop at fast food joints once a week or so, unless it's something healthy like Subway. Keep in mind that "sit-down" restaurants get pricey; if you've got a financially successful tour, or if money isn't much of a factor, they're fun and delicious, but otherwise you're going to have to look into getting cheap, nutritious, eats from supermarkets.

If you end up doing legitimate grocery shopping keep in mind that you'll be needing a cooler.  Make sure the cooler doesn't leak though - ours did and our van very quickly turned into a swamp/lake hybrid.  Keeping an eye on your diet is key, especially for singers; if you're using your voice, try to avoid tons of caffeine on those overnight stints and don't smoke or drink heavily. You can easily lose notes from your upper register if you're not careful, and your on-stage endurance whithers away after a few evenings of hard partying.  Along with your body, the other thing that is absolutely crutial to maintain is your instrument.  Changing drum heads, guitar/bass strings, keeping batteries in pedals fresh, and renewing your damaged instrument cables are all pretty tedious things to do, but if you can get yourself used to doing it every 3 shows or so, I think you'll end up finding the process really relaxing - I do.  A couple quick tips to help with wear and tear on your stuff:

1. Buy Monster Cables!  I know they are super expensive, but they come with a lifetime warranty that Guitar Center honors.  I can't even remember how many times I traded out my old guitar cable for a free brand new one.
2. Boil/Bake your strings.  This probably sounds bizarre but it absolutely works!  What happens to your strings as they lose their clarity of sound is that the skin and oil from your fingertips starts to weigh down, or deaden, the strings.  If you boil/bake your strings, the oil and dead skin gets broken up and the strings regain a bit of their former glory.
3. Throat coat.  This is the saving grace for many many accomplished singers!  Head on over to the local health store and just ask for this stuff.  When we were on tour, Will, the lead singer, swore by Throat coat.  He used it every night and his voice seldom went out.

Appreciate you taking the time to check this out!  Make sure to check back in next week for the next Musicians Guide: Touring.